Lecture-7

Speed and Delay Studies

 Speed Study

Introduction
 It is a basic measure of traffic and roadway performance.
 Influence the traveler in selecting routes or transportation modes.

Definition
The rate of movement of a vehicle, generally expressed in fps, kph or mph.

Objectives
The main objectives of speed studies are:
 Capacity studies
 Geometric studies
 Accident analysis
 Economic studies
 Performance study of a traffic control measures(before & after studies)
 Planning and designing traffic control measures viz.
 Traffic signal design
 Designing road signs
 Designing parking crossings
 Establishing speed limits
 Placing speed breaker etc.
 Speed Study

Factors Affecting Speeds

Vehicles speed depend on:
 Roadway geometric, operating and surface conditions
 Amount of side frictions
 Traffic conditions
 Location along the road
 Time of the day
 Weather conditions
Types of Speeds
 Time-mean speed: The speed obtained when the sum of all values is divided by the number of observation. It gives
arithmetic mean of the spot speeds vehicles passing a point. Useful for traffic regulation purposes.
v
vt = t where, 𝑣𝑡 =individual speed and n= no. of observation
n
 Space-mean speed: The speed obtained when speeds are averages over space. It gives the harmonic mean of the
speeds of vehicles passing a point, on a highway, during an interval. Useful for establishing speed-flow
relationship.
n ns
vs = 1 = where, s=space distance and t=total travel time
t
vt

The space mean speed is slightly smaller than time mean speed under typical speed conditions on rural roads.
 Speed Study
Example: The following travel times were observed speeds for 4 vehicles traversing a 1 mile segment of highway:

Vehicle Time(min)
1 1.6
2 1.2
3 1.5
4 1.7

Calculate the space and time mean speeds of the vehicles.

1 1 1 1
Time Mean Speed=[(1.6) + + + (1.7)]/4 =0.68 miles per minute
1.2 1.5

Space Mean speed=4/(1.6+1.2+1.5+1.7) =0.67 miles per minute

Different Forms of Speed

Spot speed : instantaneous speed of a vehicle at a point.
Running speed : the highest safe speed
Journey speed : overall speed including stops
Operating speed : the highest overall speed (Operating Speed is the highest overall speed at which a driver can travel on a
given highway under favorable weather conditions and under prevailing traffic conditions without at any time exceeding the
safe speed as determined by the design speed on a section-by-section basis.)
Free flow speed : when drivers face no restriction in driving and can maintain their desired speeds.
 Speed Study

Methods of Speed Measurement

 Spot/ Time-Mean Speed: Measured at free flow/unobstructed conditions by using:

 Manual method- measuring travel time over a short distance.

 Automatic method-
 Pressure contact strip.
 Video camera method.
 Tachometer
 Radar speed meters.
 Speed Study

 Travel/ Space-mean speed: Measured at existing operating condition by using:

 License plate method.
 Floating car method- by use of test vehicle.
 Elevated observer method
 Presentation of Speed Data: Graphically in the form of :
 Histogram & frequency curve
 Cumulative frequency distribution curve
 Statistical distribution
Spot Speed Study
 Spot Speed Study
 The data is to be used for assessing general speed trends and for setting speed limits.
 The equipment for data collection procedure is a hand-held radar.

When are spot speed studies needed?

Spot speed studies are conducted to estimate the distribution of speeds of vehicles in a
stream of traffic at a particular location on a highway.
Used for:
 Establish speed zones
 Determine whether complaints about speeding are valid
 Establish passing and no-passing zones
 Design geometric alignment
 Analyze accident data
 Evaluate the effects of physical improvements, etc.
Spot Speed Study
 Spot Speed Study

Median speed The speed at the middle value in a series of spot speeds. Or, 50th-percentile speed
Modal speed The speed value that occurs most frequently in a sample of speeds
ith-percentile speed The spot speed below which i percent of the vehicles travel, e.g. 85th-percentile speed
Pace The range of speed that has the greatest number of observations; usually 10-15mph
range

Cumulative frequency (%)

Frequency (%)

85%
50%

Spot Speed Spot Speed

 Spot Speed Study

 Safe speed :85th percentile speed

 Design speed :98th percentile speed
 Median speed :50th percentile speed
 Modal speed : speed at the highest frequency
 Pace : is a range of speed :-usually taken in 10 mph or 15 Kmph increment.
 Speed limits : upper limit at 85th percentile speed
lower limit at 15th percentile speed
85th Percentile: 85% of vehicles traveling at or below that speed; 15% traveling over that speed

 Following data was collected while conducting spot speed studies at certain stretch of a road within the urban
area. Determine:

Average speed of traffic speed.

Modal speed and pace of the traffic stream.
Upper and lower values of speed limits for regulation.
Design speed for checking the design speed.
 Spot Speed Study
10
∗ 100
830
Speed Range(mph) No.of vehicle observed(f) Mid-speed,V(mph) % Frequencies Cumulative % Frequencies
0-5 0 2.5 0.00 0.00
5-10 10 7.5 1.20 1.20
10-15 20 12.5 2.41 3.61
15-20 40 17.5 4.82 8.43
20-25 110 22.5 13.25 21.69
25-30 200 27.5 24.10 45.78
30-35 250 32.5 30.12 75.90
35-40 120 37.5 14.46 90.36
40-45 40 42.5 4.82 95.18
45-50 20 47.5 2.41 97.59
50-55 10 52.5 1.20 98.80
55-60 7 57.5 0.84 99.64
60-65 3 62.5 0.36 100.00
65-70 0 67.5 0.00 100.00
Total 830

𝐕𝐚𝐯𝐠 =sum(f×V)/sum(f)=30.2mph
Spot Speed Study
Spot Speed Study
 Spot Speed Study

Comparison of mean speeds

 Before-after study of spot-speed is needed to measure the effectiveness of a counter measure.
 This is done by comparing the difference between two sample mean speeds by using statistical Z-test.
 Assuming that two sample means are from the same distribution.
 In traffic engineering studies, it is usual to perform the test at 95% confidence level.

Check if, Z= 𝑢1 − 𝑢2 /𝑠𝑑 >𝑍𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙

𝑠1 2 𝑠2 2
Where: 𝑠𝑑 =sqrt[ 𝑛 + ]
1 𝑛2

𝑢1 = mean speed of before study, 𝑢2 = mean speed of after study, 𝑛1 =sample size for before study
𝑛2 = sample size for after study, 𝑠𝑑 =standard deviation of the difference in means
𝑠1 = standard deviation for before study, 𝑠2 = standard deviation for after study
𝑍𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 =Critical value at a particular confidence level =1.96 at 95% C.L.or 5% los.
 Spot Speed Study
Problem: Spot speed data were collected at a section of highway during and utility maintenance work. The speed
characteristics are given below. Determine whether there was any significant difference between the average speed
at the 95% confidence level.

𝐮𝟏 =35.5 mph 𝐮𝟐 = 𝟑𝟖. 𝟕 𝐦𝐩𝐡

𝐒𝟏 =7.5 mph 𝐒𝟐 = 𝟕. 𝟒 𝐦𝐩𝐡
𝐧𝟏 = 𝟐𝟓𝟎 𝐧𝟐 = 𝟐𝟖𝟎

Solution:
𝑠1 2 𝑠2 2 7.52 7.42
𝑠𝑑 = sqrt[ 𝑛 − ] =sqrt[ 250 + ]=0.65 mph
1 𝑛2 280

𝑍𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 =1.96 at 95% Confidence level

Now, Z= 𝑢1 − 𝑢2 /𝑠𝑑 = 35.5 − 38.7 /0.65 =4.92
As Z>𝑍𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 , it can be concluded that the difference in mean speeds is significant at 95% confidence level.
Delay Studies
 Delay Studies
Introduction
 It is a modified form of the speed study.
 It measures the average journey time.
Objectives
 To find out the locations , causes and duration of the delay/congestion
 To prescribe the remedied measures of congestion
 To assess the quality/efficiency of road network
 For economic evaluation of improvement measures
 To evaluate the performance of particular measure
 For travel demand management/route guidance

Causes of Delay
 Fixed Causes/Geometric delay: Delay incurred due to roadway geometry. It occurs mainly due to road intersections/
signals, narrow road/bridges, sharp horizontal and vertical curves etc. It is unavoidable and almost same for all
vehicles.
 Delay Studies

 Operational Delay: It is mainly caused by road-side and inter-vehicular frictions such as:
 Road side parking
 Road side non-motor activities.
 Road side pedestrian movements and random crossing.
 Bus stoppage near intersections.
 High traffic volume and lack of roadway capacity.
 Merging, turning, lane changing/overtaking or weaving maneuvers etc.
Traffic engineers are interested about the operational delay which is fluctuating in nature and controllable.

Delay/Congestions
Indicates the situation when extra time is needed to travel through a roadway facility.

Types of Delay/Congestion
 Non-recurrent Delay: Which is unpredictable in nature and occurs due to the following random events.
 Flow break down at peak periods (make shock wave – which quickly amplify and propagate to down
stream).
 Accidents
 Special events (sports, national events).
 Signal Malfunctions etc.
 Delay Studies
 Recurrent Delay: Which occurs periodically at particular locations and particular time of a day.
 Daily morning/evening peak period congestions due to rush commuter movements.
 Congestions other than the peak periods on all purpose roads due to increased flow level.

Data Collection Methods

 Manual
 Floating Car Method
 Random Car Selection Method

 Auto Data Acquisition Techniques

 Based on road occupancy rate- Inductive loop detectors
 Based on vehicle speeds- radar devices (ultra sound/ infrared beams)
 Based on travel time- between
 Two consecutive CCTVs with machine vision license plate reader (LPR)
 Two granites with microwave transmitters and in-vehicle electronic card/ tag system
 Based on in-vehicle tachometer and GPS antenna
 Delay Studies

Presentation of results
Speed and delay data may be presented in tabular or graphical form to show speeds and speed variation profiles along the
route being studied together with the locations, causes and duration of delays.

Floating car or riding check method

 In the floating car method a test vehicle is driven over a given course of travel at approximately the average speed of
the stream, thus trying to float with the traffic stream. A number of test runs are made along the study stretch and a
group of observers record the various details. One observers seated in the floating car with two stop watches. One of
the stop watch is used to record the time at various control point like intersections, bridges or any other fixed points
in each trip. The other stop watch is used to find the duration of the individual delays.

 The time, location and cause of these delays are recorded by the second observer.

 The number of vehicle overtaking the test vehicle and the overtaken by the test vehicle are noted in each trip by third
observer.

 The no. of vehicles travelling in the opposite direction in each trip is noted by fourth observer. In this method the
detailed information is obtained concerning all phases of speed and delay including location, duration and causes of
delay.
Delay Studies
 Delay Studies

Problem: Speed and delay studies by floating car method were conducted on a city road of 3 km length running
North-South. The data is given below in tabular form. Find:
1. Average values of volume of traffic
2. Journey speed
3. Running speed
4. Delay time
Trip Direction of Journey time Total stop No. of vehicles No. of vehicles No. of vehicles
trip Min-Sec delay overtaking overtaken from opposite
Min-Sec direction
1 N-S 5’-30” 1’-30” 4 7 250
2 S-N 6’-35” 1’-40” 5 5 200
3 N-S 5’-22” 1’-30” 5 3 240
4 S-N 6’-20” 2’-15” 3 1 240
5 N-S 5’-38” 1’-10” 2 6 230
6 S-N 6’-18” 1’-20” 2 3 220
7 N-S 5’-20” 1’-40” 2 7 210
8 S-N 6’-32” 1’-50” 3 2 180
9 N-S 5’-10” 1’-30” 2 4 200
 Delay Studies
Direction Journey Time Stopped Time Overtaking Overtaken No. of 𝐕𝐥𝐨𝐦
5’-30” 1’-30” 4 7 250
5’-22” 1’-30” 5 3 240
N-S 5’-38” 1’-10” 2 6 230
5’-20” 1’-40” 2 7 210
5’-10” 1’-30” 2 4 200
Average 5’-24” 1’-28” 3 5.4 226
6’-35” 1’-40” 5 5 200
6’-20” 2’-15” 3 1 240
S-N 6’-18” 1’-20” 2 3 220
6’-32” 1’-50” 3 2 180
Average 6’-26.25” 1’-46.25” 3.25 2.75 210
Calculation for N-S: 𝑡𝑎 = 6’-26.25”= 6.44min , 𝐭 𝐰 = 5.4min, 𝑛𝑎 = 210, 𝐧𝐲 = 3-5.4 = -2.4
ny −2.4 𝑛𝑎 +𝑛𝑦
T= t w − = 5.4− 17.53 = 5.54 min q=
q 𝑡𝑎 +𝑡𝑤
210+(−2.4)
= 6.44+5.4 = 17.53 veh/min
3 km
Average speed = 5.54 = 32.5 km/h
60
h
3 km
Running time={5.54−(1′ − 28′′)}= 4.07min So, Running speed = 4.07 = 44.23km/hr
60
h
THANK YOU